Bargaining Session Notes 9/23/2024

GAU initially brought 2 proposals to the table - 3 (Consultations) and 8 (Leaves of Absence) 

• For Article 3, UF has tried to remove GAU’s ability to meet with the UF president, claiming they’re “not interested” in it since GAU is permitted to meet with UF designees 
  • GAU reinserted language to meet with the UF president in line with language from FSU’s Collective Bargaining Agreement 
• For Article 8, GAU added a “carve out” for leaves of absence (paid and unpaid) for GAs who are experiencing a sudden need for leave due to extreme mental health concerns 
• The other issue on Article 8 is settling on an appropriate length of leave for GAs that experience a death of a close family member (i.e., bereavement leave)
  • ​UF previously offered 2 days paid leave for bereavement in which the family member is domestic and 5 days for cases when the family member is international 
  • For this counterproposal, we proposed paid leave of 5 days for domestic and 10 days for international travel 
  • GAU does not agree that this is enough time to travel to and from any location, manage family affairs, and deal with the emotional toll taken 
• UF then offered three counterproposals for Article 10 (Stipends) in the form of a table

• UF offered one proposal in which their main move was to increase the minimum stipend and did not change their previous offer on merit raises (A), one in which they made a bit of a move on both (B), and one where they doubled their previous merit raise offer and left their previous stipend increase alone 
  
• UF also removed the previously proposed language to put Article 10 into effect as a Memorandum of Understanding before the entire ratification of the new article - which we did for Article 12 (Health Insurance) last month and newly proposed language to automatically increase stipend amounts to ensure every 9 month GA on the minimum stipend is able to meet J-1 visa requirements (currently equivalent to about $27,200)
  

​Since there was a significant amount of time left, the two parties met privately - during this time, GAU wrote another counter proposal for Article 10, which we subsequently presented 

• GAU reinserted language to put Article 10 into effect earlier than the entire full book ratification, but through a pull out ratification process as opposed to an MOU 
  
• GAU also reinserted language to automatically increase the 9-month stipend minimum in accordance with UF’s J-1 visa requirements 
  
• GAU conceded slightly on our last minimum stipend offer, proposing $28,000 for 9 month GAs and $37,333 for 12 month GAs 
  
• We also decreased our previous merit raise amounts to $1,500 for 9 month GAs and $2,000 for 12 month GAs 
  

Overall, GAU will continue to fight for increases to the minimum as our top priority, as a majority of GAs are paid according to the minimum stipend amount, for GAs to make a living wage in Gainesville, and for international students to not have to supplement their stipends to be eligible to be a graduate student at UF